Nearly new 30-year-old tanks?

[CycleCat]

A gentleman near me has some vintage 1990 tanks for sale. They appear to be in good shape from the one photo I've seen. He describes them as barely used, still full, not used since early 1990 when illness forced him to quit diving. They are aluminum, HP, unknown brand at this time. I'm going to go take a look at them this weekend. I was not really planning to buy tanks for a while but I think I can get these pretty cheap. Should I or are these just going to be a headache and waste of money?

 

[lexvil]

Depends on the price, check the alloy (sticky about this someplace) and factor in the cost of hydro.

 

[scrane]

If they don't pass hydro and visual they aren't worth anything. 30 years under pressure is not necessarily a good thing. Personally, I'd pass.

 

[rhwestfall]

Age is irrelevant (stupid shops excluded), but year of manufacture, brand and alloy can be important.

They could be fine or they could be useless.

If Catalina tanks, there is a good chance they are useful. Luxfer is a crapshoot depending on year (load cracking due to a bad alloy used).

On top of all that is price. A brand new tank (has VIP and current hydro) is pretty inexpensive for an aluminum tank, so they really should be cheap to be worthwhile. Look at the cost of a hydro and a VIP you will need to spend to decide the value.

 

[VikingDives]

If he bought them in 1990, beware the 6351-T6 aluminum alloy. Those tanks are more likely to explode. You may want to get pictures of the info on the tanks before you go further.

My 2 cents on buying tanks here:

Considering where you live, unless you are considering diving someplace like Conchas, and/or buying a compressor, tanks are a terrible investment.

You're paying 70ish for hydros each, and 29ish for VIPs in Albuquerque, there's the cost of transport back and forth and the cost of fills doesn't decrease if you own your own tanks. Assuming they pass hydro, you're still out about 200 dollars per tank over than next five years. You will of course have the cost and pleasure of transporting those tanks to and from Santa Rosa, which amounts to extra gas too.

 

[CycleCat]

Considering where you live, unless you are considering diving someplace like Conchas, and/or buying a compressor, tanks are a terrible investment.

I have a house in San Carlos. I wasn't planning to buy tanks til we moved down there more or less permanently in a few years. I'll go look at these but will probably pass on them.

 

[lexvil]

If he bought them in 1990, beware the 6351-T6 aluminum alloy. Those tanks are more likely to explode. You may want to get pictures of the info on the tanks before you go further.

My 2 cents on buying tanks here:

Considering where you live, unless you are considering diving someplace like Conchas, and/or buying a compressor, tanks are a terrible investment.

You're paying 70ish for hydros each, and 29ish for VIPs in Albuquerque, there's the cost of transport back and forth and the cost of fills doesn't decrease if you own your own tanks. Assuming they pass hydro, you're still out about 200 dollars per tank over than next five years. You will of course have the cost and pleasure of transporting those tanks to and from Santa Rosa, which amounts to extra gas too.

Unless you live close to a place to dive.

 

[Couv]

Actually being kept full for all of these years has little impact on the integrity of the metal. More related is the number of cycles. However, the alloy is of more importance. Read this thread before deciding:
Is my cylinder made from the "bad" alloy aka AL6351?

 

[scrane]

see: Pig in a Poke.

 

[rjack321]

Even if they are the modern alloy some shops still balk at filling tanks older than XXXX (pick totally arbitrary year) - they may or may not make up various reasons why.

Assuming 1990 or later born dates, I would offer him $100 for all four. Then check with your shop about getting them hydroed and VIPed. If they refuse or make up some bogus reason, you aren't out much since you can sell them for scrap and get $80.